Three Must Read Stories: The Weekend Reader

Every weekend we select a handful of in-depth articles we think are worth a bit of your valuable time, either because they peel back the layers on a compelling business story, or somehow make us look at business in a different light.

Companies adjust to the new normal. CVS doesn’t sell smokes anymore; Unilver doesn’t care if you sell because of less frequent guidance; Mars educates consumers on how to snack. All of these decisions seemingly run counter to the bottom line, especially the $2 billion in CVS’s lost tobacco sales, Andrew White, an associate dean at Oxford, writes for Harvard Business Review. In each case, the companies are forsaking near-term revenue and profits. “The leaders who resolve paradoxes follow a predictable path,” Mr. White writes. Accept the situation, then confront it, and finally transcend it.

You can lie, but you might face 20 years or more. Thomas Davis was the epitome of elite, from Wall Street to Texas, but now he faces two decades in jail and millions in fines, the New York Times writes. He last month pleaded guilty to 12 felonies for insider trading related leaks of confidential information while chairman of Dean Foods. First, he lied to the FBI and SEC lawyers, adding perjury to the charges, then he chucked his phone into a nearby Dallas creek to rack up obstruction of justice and destroying evidence charges.

What J.P. Morgan thinks you should read this summer. J.P. Morgan, aided by a 14-person committee, wants you to read these 10 books this summer. The list was whittled down from 468 non-fiction books by a 14-person committee, and the overarching themes are disruption, creativity, innovation and individuality, Newsweek reports. The books include AOL cofounder Steve Case’s take on the future of technology and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s co-authored book about his inspiration for “Hamilton: An American Musical.”

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